Some say it’s too watered down, another says it’s overblown, so Canada’s first Africentric “school within a school” continues to draw fire, even as the blueprint begins to take shape.

Toronto District School Board staff have proposed the pilot program start in September 2009 with junior kindergarten through Grade 5 in an unused wing of Sheppard Public School near Sheppard Ave. W. and Keele St.

While staff call it an “exciting opportunity” for a large school struggling with falling enrolment, champions of the Africentric school say a school-within-a-school elementary program falls short of their vision of a self-standing school up to Grade 12.

“I prefer a free-standing school with its own holistic learning system,” said Ryerson professor Grace-Edward Galabuzi, one of a network of advocates of an Africentric alternative school as a way to help fight a high dropout rate among black teens. Continue reading

As much as I feel that the Rev's comments are true, I do feel that there is a time and place for everything and this isn't the time or place for the Rev to be causing distractions for Obama.

Confronted with a crisis that threatens to ruin his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, a grim Barack Obama has condemned the fulminations of his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, in the strongest language possible short of swearing.

“I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday,” Mr. Obama told reporters at a sombre press conference here in North Carolina, where he is campaigning in advance of next Tuesday's primary.

“The person I saw yesterday was not the person I met 20 years ago,” he said. Rev. Wright's comments Monday to the National Press Club in Washington were “giving comfort to those who prey on hate … they offend me, they rightly offend all Americans, and they should be denounced.”

It was an irreconcilable breach with the man who had married him and his wife, Michelle, who had baptized their daughters and whom Mr. Obama only weeks ago described as “like family.”

April 29, 2008

Louis Vuitton news, the house is suing an artist for creating this image:

"Artist Nadia Plesner created this image to satirize the lack of media attention a genocide like Darfur gathers compared with the relative overexposure of skinny women with little dogs and designer bags." source thefashionbomb

Jill has recently joined forces with Ashley Stewart to launch a bra line called "The Butterfly Collection by Jill Scott". The product is scheduled for a May 15th launch and will be available in over 200 stores as well as online. The Butterfly bra will be sold in three styles: underwire, molded cup and strapless. Sizes will range from 38D to 44DDD. Matching panties and boyshorts will also be included as part of the line. More details over @ Brown+Skin=Healthy

Russell Simmons, who has played an intricate role in providing a positive foundation for today’s youth with his Hip Hop Action Summit Network, feels as though communication between law enforcement personnel and the communities they serve will decrease such travesties as these. “I don't know what implications a guilty or non guilty verdict in the Sean Bell case has on our society. I only know for certain we need more sensitivity training as part of the police curriculum. I also believe a more intimate dialogue must be promoted between police and the communities,” Simmons said in a statement. continue reading

Venezuela has given an extra $9 million to the film "Toussaint," a co-production between Danny Glover's Louverture Films and Venezuela's film studio Villa del Cine, reports EUR. However, not all filmmakers believe the money should've been accepted.

The government has already donated nearly $18 million toward the $30 million budget of Glover's pet project about Toussaint Louverture, who led an 18th-century uprising in Haiti.

But Venezuelan writer-director Jonathan Jakubowicz – whose kidnap drama "Secuestro Express" angered Chavez's government for its hard-hitting portrayal of sociopolitical malaise in Venezuela – says the earmarked money is at the expense of the country's poor.

"In a country with rampant poverty, a catastrophic health crisis and 14,000 violent deaths a year, President Hugo Chavez gives away our money for his friends to play with," said the L.A.-based filmmaker. "I don't know if Mr. Glover's conscience lets him sleep, but he's certainly present in all my nightmares." source

April 28, 2008

Heavyweight champion Cassius Clay, holding a package of records, talks to newsmen as he arrives at U.S. Army Induction Center. Clay is scheduled to be inducted into the Army but has said he will refuse to take the symbolic one step forward, thereby leaving himself open to criminal prosecution. Clay claims his induction is illegal because he is a Black Muslim Minister. source

The Prince of Pop confesses that leaving the clubs behind to start a family has influenced his new music for the betterBy Charreah Jackson

Let’s face it: Usher probably will never know what it means to have a dream deferred. Since he was a pubescent teen, the ATL crooner has only been steeped in reality — singing and dancing toward his goals seemingly effortlessly. Now, after an award-winning career and four-year hiatus, the megastar and family man gears up for his fifth musical offering, Here I Stand, the highly-anticipated follow-up to 2004’s kiss-and-tell breakout Confessions.“I’m back on the scene and ready to do it all over again. This is going to be an incredible journey,” the chart-topper prophesizes. “It is a classic and should be remembered 20 years from now. I’m ready to shock the world.” Continue reading

April 27, 2008

From the beginning, Khamitic cosmology was Maatical (balanced) it taught of NTR, a Mother/Father Creator. The NTRU (Divine Attributes) were likewise feminine and masculine, for example, Ptah/Sekhmet, Amen-Ra/Mut, Tehuti/Maat, Ast/Asar. This way of viewing The Divine that filtered down into everyday life was Maatriarchal, and women enjoyed a measure of equality unduplicated in these so called modern times. The Greeks and Romans were appalled at the level of freedom of Khamitic women, who could own property and functions as Queens, High Priestesses, and Living Oracles. The lineage of kings was transmitted through the mother, as was inheritance.

The Maatocracy (righteous government) of the ancient Khamites eclipsed the democracy of modern time, whose hallmark has been the suppresion and oppression of women, coupled with a pervasive undercurrent of racism.

In order to understand the spirituality of "Our Ancient Kahmite Ancestors" it is important to open your consciousness and familiarize yourself with the cosmological legacy that created the Maatocracy.

We knew the moment that she started dunking rocks in high school and during college games as a redshirt freshman two years ago, that she was destined to shine in the WNBA.

Earlier this month, she was the first overall pick in the WNBA draft, going to the L.A. Sparks. Now the endorsements are starting come through. Gatorade recently signed Parker to an endorsement deal, making her the only Black woman to endorse the product. Continue reading

April 26, 2008

Her album SoL-AngeL & The Hadley Street Dreams has an official release date of August 26th. She enlisted Cee-Lo, Pharrell, Marsha Ambrosius, Rapheal Saadiq, and folks to co-write and lend vocals to her tracks. source ybf.com

Atlanta, GA - The Spelman College Women's Research and Resource Center and The Women's Action for New Direction will sponsor a Mother's Day for Peace awards ceremony honoring Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker, on Tuesday, May 6.

Walker who attended Spelman College on full scholarship in 1961 before transferring, received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983 for her critically acclaimed novel The Color Purple.

Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, president of Spelman College will host this special event and will also serve as honorary co-chair with Dr. Elizabeth Kiss, president of Agnes Scott College. Local activists Alice Lovelace and Jackie Adams will also be honored. source

Steven Meisel has just shot an entire issue of Vogue Italia with all black models, hoping that other issues of Vogue start to diversify their own portfolios.

Apparently, all of the photo shoots have already happened, as model bookers at various agencies have been contacted and sourced for new, beautiful, not-white girls -- and now they're twittering about how cool the issue will be.

No word on when the issue will hit stands or who's on the cover (Jourdan Dunn? Chanel Iman?), but whatever:

We don't really report the news over here. We just break it wide open.

A day after three New York police detectives were acquitted on all counts in the case of Sean Bell -- an unarmed man killed in a hail of 50 police gunshots -- his fiancee told supporters that the justice system let her down.

"On April 25, 2008, they killed Sean all over again," Nicole Paultre Bell told supporters at a rally organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton.

"That's what it felt like to us. That's what it felt like to us," she said Saturday. "Yesterday, they -- the justice system -- let me down. I gave them the benefit of the doubt," she said. "I'm still praying for justice because it's not over. It's far from over."

Bell spoke after Sharpton criticized the judge who acquitted the three officers, saying the case should have been heard by a jury. Continue reading

April 25, 2008

Serena Williams helped to unveil Nike’s 2008 Women’s Fall Line in Venice, California Thursday. Nike brings a contemporary look for women to choose from with this line, which includes a range of colorful track shorts and jackets. source

Nicole Paultre Bell, the fiancée of Sean Bell, ran out of the courtroom in tears minutes ago after hearing the not guilty verdict for all three of the New York police detectives indicted in Bell’s shooting death.Bell and two friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, were shot in the early morning of November 25, 2006, after Bell’s bachelor party at a Queens strip club. He and Nicole Paultre Bell were to have been married later that day. As the young men were leaving in Bell’s car, undercover detective Gescard Isnora approached them with a gun. Guzman and Benefield maintain that Isnora never identified himself as a police officer. After the men tried to flee, Isnora and the other officers opened fire, releasing a total of 50 rounds and killing Bell. All three Black men were unarmed. source essence.com

R&B singer-songwriter Kelly Rowland has been appointed as the official 2008 Ambassador for the MTV Staying Alive Foundation. The multi-platinum selling artist and Destiny’s Child alumnus is to be the public face of Staying Alive in June 2008, dedicating herself to raising the profile of the global charitable foundation, whose mission is to empower young people who are protecting themselves and their communities against HIV and AIDS.

Rowland will take her first steps in her new role as Staying Alive Ambassador during her solo tour of Africa (June 2008), when she takes her upbeat brand of stylish R&B to music fans in Africa (locations TBD). Her trip will incorporate visiting Staying Alive Foundation grant recipients and grassroots projects supported and funded by the Foundation.

Every year, nearly 20,000 black women in the U.S. are diagnosed with breast cancer.

If one of those women is your sister, there is something you can do to help. You can join the Sister Study today!

Seeing your sister fight breast cancer can give you a sense of helplessness. But joining the Sister Study is a powerful way to make a difference. The Sister Study wants to find the causes of breast cancer so that future generations, including our daughters, granddaughters and nieces don't have to experience the disease.

a woman between the ages of 35 and 74 years oldand you have never had breast cancer yourselfand your sister (living or deceased), related to you by blood, had breast cancerand you live in the U.S. or Puerto Rico.

JOINING THE SISTER STUDY IS EASY, SAFE AND PRIVATE.NO MEDICINE. NO DOCTOR VISITS. NO LIFESTYLE CHANGES. NO INSURANCE REPORTING.

More than 4,000 black women are participating in the Sister Study, but hundreds more are needed. Read some of the compelling stories from women who have joined.

April 24, 2008

Cairo, Egypt - The Egyptian minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, on Tuesday revealed that preparations are underway to open an African museum in Egypt to display old and modern African arts objects in the areas of sculpture, photography, architecture, masks, printing on canvas (batik), dance and music.

The minister said in a press statement on Tuesday in Cairo that the museum will include a special wing for the masks associated with religious and popular ethnic and tribal values.

The Egyptian minister - who wants to compete for the position of Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said he talked to a number of African foreign ministers and African ambassadors to explore what their countries could contribute to the museum which he asserted would be a unique one. Continue reading

Last night on 'American Idol', Columbia Pictures premiered an exclusive look at Will Smith's summer film 'Hancock'.

Directed by Peter Berg, the film also stars Charlize Theron, and Jason Bateman.

The film opens on July 2, 2008.

There are heroes... there are superheroes... and then there's Hancock (Will Smith). With great power comes great responsibility – everyone knows that – everyone, that is, but Hancock. Edgy, conflicted, sarcastic, and misunderstood, Hancock's well-intentioned heroics might get the job done and save countless lives, but always seem to leave jaw-dropping damage in their wake. The public has finally had enough – as grateful as they are to have their local hero, the good citizens of Los Angeles are wondering what they ever did to deserve this guy. Hancock isn't the kind of man who cares what other people think – until the day that he saves the life of PR executive Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), and the sardonic superhero begins to realize that he may have a vulnerable side after all. Facing that will be Hancock's greatest challenge yet – and a task that may prove impossible as Ray's wife, Mary (Charlize Theron), insists that he's a lost cause. Continue reading